Farmers in Nghe An are in the season of harvesting mudworms.
(Baonghean.vn) - The monsoon season arrives at the same time as the mudworms emerge from the rice fields. Farmers in Hung Nguyen stay up all night, braving the rain and cold wind to harvest the mudworms.
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| These days, despite the heavy rain and wind...coldAt midnight, the fields in Chau Nhan and Hung Loi communes (Hung Nguyen district) were still illuminated by the lights of people hunting.mudwormsPhoto: Huy Thu |
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| In rainy and windy weather, farmers going to the fields to hunt for earthworms have to wear warm clothes and raincoats, along with all sorts of bulky items like buckets, basins, nets, and traps... "Going to hunt for earthworms on sunny days is less difficult, but in this kind of rain and wind, going out to the fields at night is very hard," said a woman from Chau Nhan commune. Photo: Huy Thu |
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| During the mudworm season, farmers here usually set up nets in the fields beforehand, but every night they have to adjust the nets (tools used to collect mudworms) to make sure they are secure. Photo: Huy Thu |
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| During the mudworm season, mudworms surface in the rice fields twice a month, but on days when the water level rises, the villagers stay awake every night to watch for them, as they don't know exactly when they will appear. Anyone who misses the opportunity to see the mudworms in the fields suffers a loss. (Photo: Huy Thư) |
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| Those who hunt for mudworms seem to frequently have to stand in the rice fields to build embankments, adjust nets, repair traps, and scoop up mudworms... On these rainy and windy nights, hunting mudworms is truly arduous because they have to immerse themselves in freezing cold water. Photo: Huy Thu |
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| Those who hunt for lugworms often have to keep a net trap in the corner of their rice field to collect lugworms in time. When the water recedes, the lugworms in the field will be carried by the current and collect in the trap. Each time the trap is emptied, there is a gap of about 1-15 minutes. Photo: Huy Thu |
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| According to local experiencelocalThroughout the rươi (a type of worm) season, each rice field usually has a dense concentration of rươi at one point, which the locals call the "rươi festival". At night, when hunting for rươi, a large crowd gathers to watch from the fields with the most rươi. Photo: Huy Thư |
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| Ms. Nguyen Thi Ha (50 years old) from Chau Nhan commune said that her family cultivates 3 sao (approximately 0.3 hectares) of rice fields. They had been watching for the rice during this season, but the "great gathering" of rice worms occurred on the night of December 14th. The rice fields turned red with rice worms, and her family managed to collect over 40 kg. |
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| The two communes of Chau Nhan and Hung Loi have hundreds of hectares of rice fields suitable for harvesting lugworms. The lugworms here are plump, golden, and of good quality, fetching a good price on the market. Each lugworm season, these fields also bring a considerable income to the local people. Photo: Huy Thu |
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| Currently, mudworms are sold wholesale at the fields for 400,000 VND/kg. Farmers harvest the mudworms and traders come to buy them as soon as they bring them to the fields, eliminating the need to take them to the market. Although they have to stay up all night guarding the mudworms, enduring rain, wind, and cold, families with large fields and a successful harvest can earn millions of dong. (Photo: Huy Thư) |
| People in Chau Nhan commune (Hung Nguyen district) hunt for mudworms on a cold, rainy winter night. Video: Huy Thu. |
